Gateways:

Course Descriptions

English Department Course Offerings for Fall 2015

10-114 College Writing* This course focuses on strategies of critical reading and writing, with an emphasis on drafting and revision. Course readings will be in a variety of genres but will focus on issues of general public concern including family, education, race, gender, and political and economic opportunity. (H) (Kilfoyle)

10-134 Introduction to Creative Writing* Through lectures, readings, and writing workshops, this entry-level class will focus on the fundamental structures of narrative fiction, with emphasis on character development, point of view, and plotting. We will also examine strategies for finding subjects, researching stories and organizing ideas into coherent narratives. (H) (Pipkin)

10-154 British Literature I* We read poetry and drama from the time of knights and ladies to the time of British Empire, with a special focus on how the rules and expectations of being a man and woman have changed. An excellent orientation to earlier poetry, with some Chaucer, Shakespeare, Donne and Milton. (Representing Gender Paideia Cluster) (H) (Saenger)

10-174 American Literature* An historically organized course, focusing on American literature and culture from before Columbus to the present. (Americas North by South Paideia Cluster) (H) (Hofpauir)

10-254 Introduction to Film Studies* Watching and talking about movies seems easy. We do this all the time with family and friends. But this course will introduce you to the study of film as a literary genre, teaching you a vocabulary for film analysis that will allow you to appreciate films as both aesthetic productions and cultural events. Films may include Blade Runner, Annie Hall, Rear Window, The Godfather, Silence of the Lambs and Zero Dark Thirty. (H) (Cleere)

10-304 Don Quixote* We will read Cervantes’ Don Quixote, along with a number of short critical and theoretical texts. We will consider questions of textual authority, human psychology, the individual and society, government, and finally—especially given that Cervantes’ text has been commonly regarded as the first modern novel—how might we define modernity? (H) (Christensen)

10-304 British Costume in Literature (London) See Theatre 74-304

10-384 Shakespeare Out Loud!* A creative exploration of one Shakespeare play: ideal for active learners. Over the summer, you will vote on what play you want to perform, and in the fall, you will take a role, learn your lines, and practice. This course is ideal for first-years: no acting experience is necessary. (H) (Saenger)

10-404 Literary Theory & Criticism This course engages with 20th- and early 21st-century theories of literature, culture, and criticism in order to extend students’ critical literacy and to heighten their awareness of how they and others read. We will discuss ideas about literature, the canon, the subject, and culture that these theories present, and examine the place and function of criticism as a social institution. (H) (Kilfoyle)

10-504 Shakespeare in Hollywood We begin by studying Othello as a play, and then look at an edgy, modern film adaptation of that play. From that point forward, we look at a wide variety of Shakespeare adaptations, including Shakespeare in Love, Ten Things I Hate About You and She’s The Man. (H) (Saenger)

10-654 Wanderers in 18th-Century Fiction The long eighteenth-century (1660-1800) was a time of experimentation and innovation in prose fiction. The wanderer is the central, characteristic figure in many of the most influential texts from era. Uprooted or otherwise displaced from their proper situation, these wanderers struggle to find or create a place for themselves in dynamic, often hostile social contexts. Texts will include, Oroonoko, Moll Flanders, Pamela, Tom Jones, Humphry Clinker, and Evelina. (Investigating Identity Paideia Cluster) (H) (Kilfoyle)

10-664 Gothic Romanticism This course will explore the dark side of British Romantic Literature, 1780-1830. Through readings from Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats, Byron, and the Shelleys we will encounter the terrifying modern origins of contemporary zombies, vampires, and other post-apocalyptic ghouls. This course will be run as a seminar emphasizing student participation. (H) (Pipkin)

10-674 Austen/Brontë This course is a concentrated exploration of two of the most celebrated, overexposed, and misunderstood female novelists in English history, Jane Austen (1775-1817) and Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855). Novels studied will include Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, and Jane Eyre. The course will be will be run as a seminar and will emphasize class participation. (H) (Cleere)

10-864 Novel English Majors This course will have a dual-focus: the representation of literary types in contemporary fiction (e.g., Eugenides The Marriage Plot) and diverse career narratives for non-fictional English majors. We will both analyze literature and imagine how to turn the skills associated with such work into a fulfilling, economically viable life. (H) (Meyers)

10-934 Capstone Seminar: Contemporary Film This capstone course will concentrate upon Hollywood films from Pulp Fiction (1994) to Grand Budapest Hotel (2014). The work of directors Spike Lee, Gus Van Zant, Kathryn Bigelow, Jody Foster, Joel Coen, Richard Linklater, Quentin Tarantino, and Wes Anderson will be watched, studied, and discussed. Film studies discourses and sustained research will be central to the culminating individual papers and presentations on student-selected films. (H) (Gaines)